What if ?
by Everythingistaken
Summary: What if Marion never died in the car accident and built a beautiful life with her family? What if Tim never came back - until now... - Story is COMPLETE for now!
1. Introduction

She has done it a hundred times before. Get the horse warmed up, start with the lower jumps and slowly raise them. What went wrong that day?

7 Days before.

"Mom, do you know where my helmet is?" Amy asked her mother. It was late afternoon and Amy decided to go for a ride with Spartan but couldn't find her helmet.

Her mother was riding one of her younger horses that had a lot of potential for jumping. Amy was an admirable rider herself, but she could watch her mother ride all day. It seemed so easy and every time she made it over a jump it looked like she was flying.

"Amy, I have no idea. Take Lou's or Ty's."  
"All right. Hey, you wanna come? I planned on giving Spartan a little break today."  
"Sounds like a plan. Give me 40 minutes? I'll finish training Filou and saddle up Nick."  
"I'll saddle him, you finish here."  
Together they enjoyed the evening sun, having some mother-daughter time.

A lot has changed since Amy was in the car accident with her mother the night they drove off to get Spartan.

After Marion was released from the hospital she did not only get back to work with traumatised horses but also decided it was time for her to get back into shop jumping. She slowly started taking on yearlings and successfully trained and sold them.

After Jack got together with Lisa she agreed on a partnership with her and now also trains horses from Lisa's stable with great potential.

Amy hasn't finished with school yet but already decided to learn everything from her talented mother after she graduates.

Since Marion was quickly successful with her mixture of "horse whispering" and training, Heartlands financial situation has gotten pretty good, what led Marion to build her own country house on the opposite side of the stable. That way she got out of Jacks way and had her own territory, without having to buy extra land or moving away from her father who has always been one of the most important person and helper in her life.

Soon the stable was extended too and a few years ago they build an indoor riding hall. Amy struggled with the change at first but after she realised that the welfare of the horses was still priority she quickly adjusted to the changes and now can hardly imagine working with the horses without the luxury.

Besides, Heartland was still very homey and the ambience was calm and relaxing.

After Marion and Amy unsaddled Jack came in the stable.

"Hey you two how was your ride?"  
"It was great Grandpa. There is no better way ending a day."  
"That's good to hear. Marion, do you have a minute?"  
"Sure, what's going on?"  
"Lets get inside for a cup of tea and I'll explain."  
"O.K. Amy, are you good here?"  
"Sure, go. I promised Ty and the rest that I'll help bringing the horses in today anyway."  
"The rest" how Amy called them, were the new stable workers Marion hired after the work got to much for Amy, Ty, Jack and herself.

Jack and Marion sat down in Jacks living room when Marion asked: "What's wrong Dad? You look worried. Is everything all right?"  
"I don't really know. When you were training with Filou a man called. He asked for you. I told him you weren't here because I know how much you hate being interrupted while you are working."  
"Who was it?"  
"Well, he didn't say. But I am pretty sure it was Tim."  
Marion looked puzzled at her father. She hasn't heard from Tim ever since he left her after his accident. No cards, letters, phone calls ever since. And suddenly he would call her father?  
"I… I don't think he would call you Dad. It could be anyone. He didn't even say his name."  
"I know. But I will also never forget the voice from the man that broke my daughter's and my granddaughter's heart. I know it was him. I wouldn't tell you this if I wasn't sure."  
"What did the man want?"  
"He didn't say. After I told him you weren't around he immediately hung up."  
"I… God… I don't know what to say. It's impossible. What would he want?"  
"I don't know Marion."  
Marion was confused. She had finally moved on with her life after all those years. She slowly stood up and started walking forth and back trough the room.

After a couple of minutes of silence she decided that Jack was probably wrong and that it wasn't worth worrying about something she didn't even know was true.

"Thanks for telling me Dad. Let's just wait and see what happens…"  
"What ever you want. So, s the barbeque tomorrow still on?" Jack asked, changing the subject.  
"Sure. I gotta go now; Luke wants to see that new Tarantino movie tonight."  
"All right, you two have fun. See you tomorrow."

Luke and Marion met two years ago when Luke bought a couple of hectares bordering Heartlands land and built up his farm.

They didn't fall in love right away. In fact Marion thought that Luke was an arrogant self-righteous man that has never gotten his hands dirty.

Luke on the other side was convinced that the two of them had something and didn't stop fighting for the sporty, blond, tough, sarcastic but funny and beautiful woman. In the end it was worth it. Luke showed Marion his true face that was actually a lot more than a tanned muscular body, three-day-beard, blue eyes and brown thick hair.

They have been together since 18 month now and Marion finally got used to having a man she could trust by her side again.

So was Amy since Luke was treading her like his own, supporting her whenever he can.

Marion's phone rang: "Hey Luke, what's up?", she answered.  
"Hey hon', I was just checking if you are still up for the movies tonight?"  
"How could I resist a bloody Tarantino massacre?"  
"You can't, I just wasn't sure if you knew that. So, I'll pick you up at 8 pm?"  
"Sounds great. We can grab some food afterwards?"  
"Perfect. Love you."  
"Love you too."

Marion came out of the shower and made herself ready for the night when Amy entered her bedroom.

"Mom?"  
"Yeah?"  
"What did grandpa want from you?"  
"Nothing important."  
"Didn't sound like that."  
"It's nothing you have to worry about Amy."  
"C'mon Mom, tell me."  
Amy knew exactly something was going on. She was almost 18 and her family stopped treating her like a child right after she took on a couple of horses herself. They always told her when something was happening at Heartland.

Marion knew that, but also didn't want to talk about Tim anymore. Her Dad was right. He did break her heart when he left the family without another word.

"Amy it's really nothing. Jack thought that Tim called today. But he doesn't even know exactly if it was him, since there was no name mentioned."  
"What? Tim? Who's Tim?"  
"Tim, as you father Tim."  
Amy couldn't get her brain to function. "What…? How…? But…I…"  
"Amy, it's all right. That's why I didn't want to tell you in first place. It probably wasn't Tim anyway, just some man with a similar voice."  
"But Grandpa says it was him?"  
Marion told Amy what Jack has told her.

"Do you think it was him, Mom?"  
"I don't know Amy. I don't want to know. I don't want him in my life. It is has anything to do with you or Lou than he can write us. There is no need for blindsiding Jack like that. After all he has put this family through enough."  
"So you do think it was him?"  
"We will see, all right? Luke will be here any minute and I would appreciate it if we can drop this conversation until tomorrow."


	2. Who are you?

Marion and Luke drove down the driveway to Heartland when Luke asked: "Is everything all right? You seemed distracted all night."  
"What? That's not true. We had a great night."  
"Yeah, we did, but you didn't even complain about the loud Popcorn-Chewer in the cinema. Normally that guy would have annoyed you to death."  
"I'm just tired. Everything is fine. Relax Luke."  
Ever since Marion and Amy have been in the car accident, Luke was slightly overprotective. Marion thought it was cute most of the time but sometimes it was simply annoying. But this time he was right, she couldn't stop being concerned about the conversation with her father the whole night.

But there was no need in telling Luke, since she didn't even know if it was Tim who called and there was no point in worrying Luke about something like that.

They reached the house and got out of the car. When they made their way to the front door Marion discovered someone sitting in the dark at the table on the porch.

She screamed quietly in shock what made the person notice its company. "Marion?" Luke asked after he heard Marion's shriek. He was a bit behind her because he had to get his mobile recharger out of the car.

The person stood up after it saw her: "Marion?"  
"Who are you?"  
"It's me, Marion. Tim." Marion could finally fully see the man now.

"Oh my god," was everything coming out of her mouth. Finally Luke made his way up the stairs to the porch.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Get of my property," Marion hissed addressing Tim Fleming.

"Marion, I can explain…", Tim started but Marion wouldn't let him speak.

"There's nothing for you to explain. Get of my land!"  
"Please, hear me out. I only need a minute."  
"You had fifteen years, Tim. GO!" Marion's voice was getting louder and Luke finally started to understand what was going on.

"Tim? So you are the man that left Marion with her kids all those years ago?" he involved himself in the conversation.

"That's none of your damn business," Tim responded annoyed, this was not exactly going the way he wanted.

"I'm Marion's man and I suggest you do what she says or I'm gonna kick your sorry ass of this property!" Luke could be very demanding…

"All right, all right, I'll go. But Marion, please call me!" Tim pressed his card in Marion's hand and quickly took of.

"What was all that about?", Luke asked.

"I have no idea. Let's get inside."  
Luke opened a bottle of whine while Marion changed into comfortable clothes. Her mind and heart was racing, she had a hard time progressing what just happened.


	3. Your Dad is back

Luckily Amy decided to sleep at Sorayas so Luke and Marion had the house to themselves.

"Thank you," Marion said when Luke passed her a glass of whine. They sat down in the living room and were silent for a couple of minutes.

"What is Tim doing back?" Luke interrupted the silence.

"I have no idea."

"Was he the reason you were," he thought a second about the right way to say it, "so… quiet today? Did you know he was coming to Heartland?"  
"No, I had no idea. Before we met today my father told me that a man called him and wanted to speak to me. He didn't say his name but Jack told me that it was probably Tim - he recognised his voice."

"Why didn't you tell me?"  
"What was I supposed to say? I didn't know anything; I didn't even believe my father. There was nothing to tell you."

"But it was clearly concerning you," Luke wasn't convinced.

"Of course it was concerning me, but there's no point in sharing every single detail of what's on your mind if there's not a real reason for being concerned," Marion answered. Her voice was getting louder and she was talking fast, she hated explaining herself.

"That's not the point Marion! I don't care if your problems are so small that they don't seem to be worth talking about, but it seems like you just don't want to let me in!"  
"Oh god, Luke, not that again! We had that discussion a 1000 times! It has nothing to do with letting you in or not letting you in. It just didn't feel important enough to tell you right away, all right? I would have told you if I would have known for sure that Tim is around again!"  
"That's something…" Luke moped.

"C'mon now, don't make a bigger deal out of this than it is. I don't wanna fight about this." Marion said soft-spoken. She was moving a bit closer to him and gently kissed him. She knew her boyfriend was at least partly right.  
"What are you planning on doing now?" Luke asked forgivingly.

"I have absolutely no idea. I would tell him to get the hell out of Canada, but Amy and especially Lou would never forgive me that. Oh God, Lou, I need to call her!"  
"You can do that tomorrow, Marion. She can't do anything now anyway."  
"I guess you're right… What an idiot, coming here and expecting a welcome party…"  
"When was the last time you've heard from him?"  
"The last thing I have heard from him was the note he left the girls and me after he left. That was over fifteen years ago."  
"Well, you have his number now. Give it to Amy and Lou and they can make their own decision if they want to call him or not. Or, of course if you feel like it you can call him. Whatever you wanna do, I'm here for you."  
"Thank you Luke."  
There were no more words needed, Luke carefully took of Marion's op and let it down to the floor. They made their way kissing to the bedroom, losing their clothes on the way.

Marion stopped thinking about her ex-husband and concentrated on the here and now.

After Marion woke up the next day she immediately arranged a get-together with her family.

Lou, Amy, Jack and Marion were sitting around Jacks kitchen table drinking coffee.

"So what is it you wanted to tell us Mom?" Lou asked? After Amy and Marion got into the accident that nearly killed them, Lou decided her job wasn't worth being away from her family and moved back to Canada and took over the Heartlands financial managing and opened the Dude-Ranch. She was still living at Jacks house but she and Peter, her fiancé, planned on buying a house in the area as soon as possible.

"Well, yesterday…" Marion started telling them everything that has happened with Tim the day before.

Her daughter were speechless, especially Lou, who never forgave her father leaving the family. Amy didn't even remember her father; she was too young when he left.

"He gave me his number. You can do what ever you like with it. If you want to call him you have my full support but please tell me if you do so. I really don't want to walk into his arms unprepared." Marion passed her daughters Tim's number and hugged them.  
This wasn't easy.

Peter picked up Lou, they wanted to look at a house that was for sale.

Amy excused herself and started looking for Ty.

"Are you all right?" Jack asked his daughter.

"Yeah, I guess so. There's not much I can do except hoping that I don't see his face in the next ten years…"  
"I think it was the best thing you could do, passing the girls the number and letting them make their own decision."  
"Thanks, Dad. It was actually Luke's idea…"  
"He's one of the good."

"Yeah, I know."

"Did he ever mention the baby-thing again?"  
"No, we haven't been talking about that for a while now. Honestly dad, you think that idea is impossible too, don't you?"  
"Well, I think you should think your decision through."  
"But what do YOU think about it?"  
"That's not my decision to make, Marion."  
"Dad…"

"All right, all right. I think you shouldn't be negative. Don't just think about the factors that would make it hard to work out. Don't forget the help you have. You COULD make it work."  
"I'm way too old!"  
"You had Lou when you were very, very young, that might make it feel absurd. But don't let that get in your way too much. There are many women out their starting a family in their forties."  
"But I have a family. I'm happy with how things are."  
"You'll make the right decision, Marion. Whatever you decide, I'm here for you."

The same time Marion and Jack talked, Amy made her way to the stable and searched for Ty. She found him outside, brushing one of the horses that Amy had worked with and was almost fine to go home.

"Haven't seen you all day! Where have you been?", he asked his girlfriend after they kissed.

"My Mom wanted to talk to me and Lou. Do you have some time? We could saddle up Mika and Spartan and go out for a ride. I'll tell you everything than."  
"Sure, that sounds fine," Ty agreed.

They saddled up their horses and left Heartland behind them.

"So, what's going on Amy?"

"My father is here."  
"What? Your father? Since when?" asked Ty, surprised like everyone was before him.

"He surprised Mom and Luke yesterday evening…"  
"What did he want?"  
"I have no idea. Mom kicked him out. I don't know anything… Ty, I don't even know how he looks!"  
"Do you want to see him?"  
"I'm not sure. Mom gave me his number. I could call him right away… I don't even know what I would say. – Hey Dad, it's your daughter you left years ago, remember?"  
"That's really awkward Amy… I think you should call him anyway. Otherwise you'll never know what he wants. Besides, what do you have to loose?"  
"Nothing I guess… But what do I say, Ty?"  
"I'm sure that'll come automatically. Just tell him who you are. He will have enough that he wants to say."  
That have reached the place they ride to whenever they get the chance to. It is on a small hill, surrounded by trees, offering an overview all over Heartland. They tie the horses to a tree and sit down next to each other on Ty's jacket.

Ty embraced Amy, they sat that way silent for a couple of minutes.

"Ty, I think I'm gonna call him."  
"That's good Amy."  
"Now."


	4. Time flies

_"Ty, I think I'm gonna call him."_  
_"That's good Amy."_  
_"Now."_

"Wha- Now? Are you sure?"  
"I… I guess so. But I can't to this without you."  
"All right then. You'll make the right decision, I'll be here."  
Amy's fingers were shaky when she dialled her father's number.

After every beep she was afraid here father would actually answer his phone.

"Tim Fleming," he answered.

It was the first time Amy heard her father's voice. It took her a couple of moments until she answered:

"Uhm, hello. It's me. Amy. Your daughter."  
"Amy? Amy, is that you?"  
"I, yeah, it's me…"  
"Oh… oh my god, Amy, wait a second, the connection is really bad," Tim obviously didn't expect his daughter to call, "I'm so glad you called! I wasn't even sure if your mother would – well, what ever… How are you?"

"I'm, I'm good," Amy stuttered, "I… Why did you come yesterday?"  
"I wanted to see you."  
"But… why?"

"Can we meet Amy? I don't want to explain you this over the phone."  
"I don't know…," Amy didn't know how to call that man she has never called anyone Dad.

"Please Amy. Give me fifteen minutes to explain. You don't have to see me ever again afterwards."  
"Yeah, I guess that's fine. But we can't meet at Heartland. Mom would kill you…"  
Tim laughed: "Yeah, she always had a temper, didn't she? Tell me where and when, I'll be there."  
They agreed on the time and place and Amy hung up.

"So, how did it go," Ty asked.

"I'm not sure. Awkward, unreal. We'll meet tomorrow."  
"Wow, that's fast."

"I know. But he didn't want to tell me why he is here over the phone…"

"Do you want me to come?"  
"I think I should do this alone. But thank you. Really, thank you, Ty"

"Anything, Amy, I hope you know that."

Ty and Amy kissed and after a while they got on their horses again and slowly made their way back home.

Amy was glad she had Ty by her side. After all, she could always count on him.

At Heartland the couple did their usual work until Jack interrupted Amy.

"Amy, how was your ride?"  
"Hey Grandpa. It was fine."  
"Have you made a decision?"  
"About Dad?  
"Yes, about your father."  
"You could say so… I already called him."  
Jack looked puzzled. He didn't expect such a fast decision from his normally over-thinking granddaughter.

"Well, that was fast. How did it go?"  
"It went all right. We'll meet tomorrow. I promised him I'll give him fifteen minutes to explain why he came back."  
"One minute for ever year he missed, huh? Don't get your expectations up Amy, O.K.?"  
"It's gonna be fine grandpa."  
Jack wasn't convinced, but what could he do?

The horse ran after her, reared, stopped when she stopped, started running again when she did.

In these moments they were one. There was nothing else important. They trusted each other blind, knew each others next move exactly. Marion and Pegasus could play like that for hours. Every once in a while Marion would get on Pegasus' back without a saddle or a bridle and they would enjoy their freedom for a while.

Nothing could interrupt them. The evening sun emblazed the nature with its warm colours. Marion didn't notice Jack watching her. Jack still didn't get where his daughter got the talent from. Neither he nor Marion's mother had that gift. It was like the horses were telling her things nobody else could hear.

Lisa arrived at Heartland. Jack had totally forgotten: The barbeque!  
"Hey Cowboy," Lisa greeted him with a kiss.

"Ah Lisa, I'm glad you're here!"  
After they made their way to the kitchen and started preparing everything for the barbeque Lisa asked Jack: "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? Nothing is wrong."  
"Oh please Jack, you look like someone took away your cowboy hat."  
"Very funny."  
"So?"  
"Tim is back."  
"Tim, as…"  
"Tim, as Marion's Ex-Husband-Tim."

"What? When did that happen?"  
Jack informed Lisa.

"Wow, that's intense." She comments after Jack finished.

"How are the girls handling that?"  
"I haven't hear from Lou, she's still looking for a house with Peter, Amy you know and Marion… Well, Marion is Marion. Keeping it together."  
"And how are you?"  
"I… Well… I must say I hate that guy, Lisa."  
"You have every right to do so. Try to keep your mind of that man for a bit, hm?" Jack was glad he had Lisa in his life. For a long time he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to have someone in his life again. He had enough to manage and wanted to be their for his family whenever they needed him. But as it turned out, Lisa quickly became family and sometimes he noticed that his "girls" turned to Lisa when they needed help.

"I'm glad you're around, Lisa." Jack said, more to himself than to Lisa. She simply grinned and kissed him.

Later that day everyone met at Jack.

"So, is it true?" Mallory burst out.

"What do you mean?" Ty asked back.  
"What everyone in town is talking about?!"  
"Mallory, what are you talking about?" Marion demanded an answer already suspecting what it would be.

"That your Ex-Husband is back in town. What was his name again? Tim?"  
"Mallory, come on, that's not appro-"Jack started.  
"Yeah, it's true." Lou interrupted her grandfather.

"Are you going to meet him?" Mallory continued asking.

Amy looked up from her plate and looked at Lou. Their looks crossed.

Lou knew her sister too well: "Amy?"  
"Well... I called him today and... Yeah, I'm gonna meet him…" she said guilty, knowing she should have talked to her sister before everyone knew.  
"When?"  
"Tomorrow. I called him today and he asked me to meet him… Are you coming with me?"  
"I don't know… Why didn't you say anything?"  
"Lou, I was going to tell you, just not right now!"  
"Girls, let's not talk about that right now." Jack told his granddaughters. He could see in his daughter's face that she didn't appreciate the conversation either.  
"Can we talk about it later and have a nice evening now!?" Marion asked her daughters.

So they spent the rest of their evening talking about horses and other things but not about Tim anymore.

Later that night Lou and Amy agreed to meet their father together the next day.

Tim, Amy and Lou sat around a table at Maggie's. Amy and Lou were incredibly nervous on the ride to the restaurant and neither of them said a word.

"I'm so glad you came," Tim said to his daughters, "you are so beautiful. Last time I saw you I you pick you both up at once..."  
"Time flies..." Lou answered sarcasticly.

After that neiter Lou nor Amy knew what to say to their father, so Tim kept on talking: "You probably have a lot of questions, just ask me."  
Amy looked at her sister, hoping she would start talking. Normally Lou was the one starting conversations with everyone but not this time.

So Amy chimed in: "Why are you here?"  
"What do you mean, Amy?"  
"Why are you here? Why did you come now? You never got in touch with us before. I'm just wondering…" Amy explained her father.

"I'm afraid I don't have an answer that would satisfy you girls. I was – I was afraid. When I left you I was in a very bad place. After my accident I was in a lot of pain. I was an addict, couldn't live without my painkillers, your mother detested my behaviour. I hated myself more than anyone else could have.

It took me a couple of years to get back on track. After I was clean and able to think straight I was embarrassed. I was ashamed. I was too ashamed to get in touch with you. I was afraid you would hate me too. So instead of leaving my fear behind me I never came back."  
Lou had tears in her eyes. She already knew most of this but hearing it from Tim personally was hard anyway.

"You still didn't answer why you came back now." She said.

"A few years ago I met a woman. She's really great, Janice is her name. Anyway, we got together a bit over a year ago. After I told her about the two of you she sort of forced me to get over my anguish."  
"You needed someone else to force you to get in touch with your daughters?" Lou said angry.

"I know it's pathetic, Lou. I just… It just… God, I don't know what to say. I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't expect you to want a relationship with me. I just want you to know, that I love you and that no day went by without me thinking about you."

"It's alright Dad. Let's stop talking about something we can't change anymore." Amy said. She believed him and felt sorry for her father. After all, he did come back now, so what's the point in living in the past.

They started talking about horses, Peter and Ty, Lou's search for a new house and Marion. Lou was still very quite. This was too absurd. She still couldn't believe that her father was sitting in front for her.

The time went by and Tim persuaded his daughters into driving them home, they could get their car the next day.


	5. Everything went dark

Driving down Heartlands driveway, Tim asked: "So, how is Pegasus doing? Is he still around?"  
Pegasus used to be Tim's show horse and was the horse he had the riding accident with sixteen years ago.

"Yeah, Mom works a lot with him. They are a great team." Lou answered cold.

"You should go and see him, Dad." Amy told her father.

It took a while for to convince him and Lou but in the end Tim agreed to go and see his old horse.

Pegasus was relaxing in his box, chewing his straw. "Hey old boy, remember me?" Tim greeted him. Pegasus did. He nickered quietly and kibbled on Tim's jacket.

"He remembers you," Amy said.

Lou was looking at her father with his old horse. Last time she saw them next to each other her father almost died.

"Of course he does. Tim raised and trained him for seven years," a voice told the group.

The three turned around and saw Marion standing in the stable aisle.

"Marion," Tim said.

"Hello, Tim," Marion answered cold, "did you have a good time together?" she asked.

"We did." Tim and Amy answered synchronistic.

"I'm glad. Excuse me please, Stella is waiting for me with Aristo." Aristo was one of Lisa's horses Marion trained. He was known for his temper but Marion didn't mind, she has always liked horses with temperament.

Marion walked out of the stable. Tim looked after her admiring her grace. She hasn't lost her very attractive appearance at all. Her body was still trained like it was when he met her many years ago, her hair still reminded him of a lion's mane and her eyes were as sharp as ever.

For a moment he was lost in his thoughts until his daughters interrupted him.

"You wanna see the other horses?" Amy asked him.

He agreed and Lou excused herself. She had enough Tim-Time for one day. Amy started showing her father around. He was quite impressed what Marion made of Heartland.

Everything started out fine.

Marion was working together with Stella, one of the stable hands.

They were concentrated and didn't notice someone was watching them.

Marion was about to jump the combination when she saw Tim standing at the fence from the corner of her eye.

She wasn't concentrated for a second, thinking about her ex-husband.

That second was enough to make the young horse insecure, making it jump off way too early. They landed in the middle of the jump, Marion was thrown down to the earth hard.

Her head hit the ground and everything went dark.

Stella and Tim immediately ran to Marion. Jack, who had witnessed the accident from the stables where he was saddling two horses with Lisa, made his way to his daughter.

Then he recognised Tim, who was kneeing next to Marion.  
"What did you do?" he yelled at him.

"Nothing, I did nothing." Tim responded calm.

But Jack was already by his daughter's side, not caring about Tim anymore.

"Lisa, call an ambulance!"  
Carefully Jack turned Marion around. She slowly regained conciseness and groaned, her face was covered in blood.

"It's all right Marion, keep still," Jack told her.  
Tim felt useless and decided to help Stella with Aristo.

Lisa kneed down next to Marion: "The ambulance will be right here."

The paramedics got Marion into the hospital, Jack drove with her and Lisa called Lou and Luke and informed Amy who was feeding the horses after she said goodbye to her father.

Amy called Ty who came to the hospital right away.

After over an hour a doctor finally informed them what was going on: "Mr. Bartlett? I'm Dr. Wild, I was with your daughter for the last hour. We are still waiting for a couple of scans. Right now we could diagnose four fractured rips, a bad concussion and several cuts and bruises. Her spleen ruptured and there appeared several inner bleeding in her abdomen, we should operate as soon as possible. Do you have any questions?"  
Nobody did. Everyone was worried in silence.

Amy clung to Ty, the rest sat down in the waiting room again.

After another couple of hours a nurse finally informed them, that the surgery went as good as possible and Marion was waking up now. "Dr. Wild will be with you any minute and update you with further details," the nurse told them.

Amy, Lou, Jack and Luke made their way too Marion's room, the rest waited outside for their beloved ones.

Marion slowly opened her eyes.

"Mom, how are you feeling?" Lou asked her mother. She was sitting by her side, just like she did after the car accident. Luke held her hand on the other side of the bed, Amy sat down next to her mother and Jack stood at the end of the bed.

It took Marion a while to get orientated and to remember what happened. Before she could her thoughts in order Dr. Wild came into the room.  
"Ms. Fleming, you're up, that's very good. How are you feeling?" He asked Marion.

"A bit achy but otherwise O.K." Marion answered, still a bit disorientated from the anaesthesia.

"You should start feeling better after a couple of hours good sleep. When you were delivered there appeared to be several inner bleedings in your abdomen. We could stop the inner bleedings but complications did emerge.

We couldn't control the bleedings in and around the uterus fast enough, after the blood loss was too high we decided to take out the uterus to prevent further damage.

I would like to keep you in here for observation for the next five to seven days. After that you'll need to take it slow and stay on the couch for a couple of days. In a couple of weeks you should be as good as new."

The doctor left the room, Lou, Amy and Jack left only a few minutes after him to let Marion rest.

Luke stayed at Marion's side. No one wanted to bring up what the doctor said.

"I'm sorry Luke."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"The Baby-Thing."  
"It's all right. You didn't really want it anyway."  
"That's not entirely true, you know that."  
"Don't worry about it. I guess it's just not meant to be. You should get some rest."  
Marion closed her eyes but even though she was exhausted she couldn't stop feeling bad for Luke. She couldn't imagine her life without her wonderful daughter's. Luke would never have that if he stays with her. With that thought she drifted of to the dreamland.


	6. Not that too

Marion's recovery was slow and painful. She couldn't do anything alone. Even sitting up was a challenge she couldn't handle alone after five days.

It was still early when someone entered her hospital room. "Marion, are you up?" It was Tim.

"Tim, what are you doing here?" Marion answered with a raspy and sleepy voice.

"I figured you couldn't run away from me here."  
"Funny." Marion said sarcastically.

"Seriously. I'm sorry about what happened."  
"How is that your fault?"  
"I don't know… I figured I distracted you…"  
"Don't worry about that. Just go please."  
"Marion…"  
"No Tim, I don't wanna talk."  
"Please. Just listen to me."  
"I listened enough to your stories. I'm not interested in them anymore."  
"You gave the girls my number."  
"Because they have a right to know their father. I did it for them, not for you."

"You're together with that Luke now?"

Marion figured that she couldn't get Tim to leave, so she tried to sit up. Tim saw that she couldn't do it herself and helped her.

"Thanks." Marion said.

"No problem."  
"Yeah, I'm together with Luke. Amy and Lou told me you have a girlfriend?"  
"I do. Janice, you might know her. She is from the area and working as a jockey."  
"I don't know. I might. So, let's get things straight now. Why are you here?"

"To apologize."  
He looked at Marion's face. She had a large cut above her right eyebrow, her eyes looked tired and sad.

"I'm sorry, Marion. For everything. I mean it. I know it is too late. But I need to say this. You deserve it. I'm sorry I treated you like an ass. You deserved better. I never should have – "  
"It's all right." Marion interrupted him. Not because she forgave him but because she didn't want to hear it. Things were hard enough she didn't need him to make it worse.

The second Tim started talking again Luke came trough the door into the room.

"You better leave now." Marion said to Tim.

Tim and Luke greeted each other stiffly and Tim made his way out, wishing Marion a good recovery.

"Hey honey." Luke kissed his girlfriend on her forehead.

"What did he want?"  
"Oh, I don't know… Apologize, clear his conscience…"  
"Dickhead… How are you feeling today?"  
"Better."  
"Did the doctors tell you when you can go home?"  
"Nope… But I really want to go home."  
"I will go and ask them."  
"All right."

After a few minutes Luke came back with Dr. Wild who examined Marion once more.  
"You are healing well. I hear you want to go home and leave us already?" he asked after he finished.  
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind that."  
"Right now I don't see any reason why you shouldn't. IF you take it very slow, stay in bed or on the couch 24/7 for at least 10 days. No walking around, no riding, no anything! You need to make sure that the wounds heal properly."  
Luke looked at his woman, knowing that these terms were not going to be easy on her.

"All right, all right," Marion agreed.

"You'll have to go the check ups every two days for the next eight days, we'll see how it goes from there, O.K.? "  
"Yes, sounds good."  
"All right then, I'll get your discharge papers."  
"Marion, you've heard what he said? No walking, riding, cooking, endless walks with Pegasus?"  
"My ears are working flawless, Luke. I got it!"  
"Let's get you home then."  
Marion called the rest of her family and told them the good news, Luke helped her into clothes and soon they were on their way to Heartland.

They welcomed her warmly but since Marion was still quite fragile she let Luke help her into pyjamas and went straight to bed.

"I'll be downstairs. If you need anything call, all right?" Luke said.

"Thank you, Luke."

Amy was outside lunging one of Marion's yearlings. There was a lot to do, now that Marion couldn't do her work.

"Amy," Ty made his way to the roundpen.  
"Hey," she greeted him.  
"I heard that Marion is out of the hospital?"  
"Yeah, she came home a few hours ago."  
"That's great, why didn't you tell me?"  
"It was pretty spontaneously and there is so much to do. Sorry."  
"Don't worry about it. How can I help?"

Together they made it through the day.

After hours of being busy they finally sat down on the bench on Jacks porch. "Thank you so much for your help Ty, I couldn't have done it without you."  
"You don't have to. I will help wherever I can until you Mom gets back on her feet."  
"But you have enough to do at the praxis and with Scott!"  
"That doesn't keep me from my work here, Amy. You know that."  
"I do. But I'm on summer vacations, so keep concentrated on your work with Scott, all right?"  
"Yeah, Boss."  
Laughing, Amy kissed him. There was just no one she like being with more.

"Hey you two." Jack interrupted his giggling granddaughter and her boyfriend.

"Hey Grandpa."  
"Are you two all right?" he asked them. Jack knew that things were tough for Amy, first her father came back after years of no contact and now her mother.

"Yeah, we're ok," Amy answered for both of them.

"Lisa is coming any moment and offered to cook. So you better get yourself cleaned up and I'll feed the horses."  
"Thank you Grandpa."

Only a few minutes later Lisa arrived at Heartland.

She looked stressed and almost ran in the kitchen.

"Have you heard? Scott diagnosed four horses at Briar Ridge Stables with strangles today. He already had to put one down. I don't even want to imagine what this could to all of us!" Lisa said to Jack.

Jack was speechless for a second. Strangles are highly contagious and pure horror for every farm owner.

"Oh no… Not that too," he said to himself.

"Did you get your horses checked?" Jack asked Lisa.

"Yeah but they seem to be fine so far. You should do the same, Jack."  
"I'll get everyone. If we do it together it shouldn't take too long."  
Fast everyone was informed and met at the stable. They agreed to not tell Marion about the situation until they had any facts and started to check the horses.

The next hours Jack, Amy, Ty, Lou, Mallory, Lisa and Luke spent with taking the horses fever and checked for any coughs.

Luckily none of the horses seemed to be infected. Everyone was relieved but no one dared to be too positive. Just because no horse showed any symptoms didn't mean that they weren't infected.

"All right everyone, let's get inside and get some food," Jack ordered.


	7. The Break

_**So, this chapter might be a bit dull, it took me a lot of words to get the things the way I wanted them to be. Next chapters hopefully will be better again.  
And thank you GKB for your kind reviews, I really appreciate every opinion. **_

It was already late when everyone got around the table. There was not much talking, everyone was captured in his or her thoughts.

"What if one of the horses would have shown any signs of strangles?" Mallory asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, first of all we would have to clean and disinfect everything the sick horses could have touched – so pretty much everything. We would have to arrange a quarantine area, change coveralls and boots before going in and out, disinfect ourhands, its awfully annoying," Jack answered her question, "let's just hope we stay lucky."

They all went to bed more or less relieved and tired at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~~ Eight Days Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amy was cleaning the stables when Ty came in.

"Hey," he greeted her kissing.

"Hey, how was your day?" Amy asked him.

"Don't ask. I was at Briar Ridge Stables all day, surrounded by a super hysterical Val."  
"Sounds great," Amy laughed, "how's the situation there?"  
"Nothing new. Nine horses are recovering and in quarantine."  
"Let's hope that thats it. If no more horses get sick we can finally relax again."  
"Definitely! So, what's new here? Any news about your mom?"  
"Actually, yes: the doctor gave her the O.K. to get back on her feet. She's finally allowed to walk and get outside the house."  
"Ah, those are good news I'm really happy for you guys!"  
"Thanks. One more day with here inside and everyone around here would have gone crazy."  
"Well, the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree..."  
"Tyyy," Amy playfully slapped Ty.

"I'm just saying…"

They were still giggling and kissing when Marion came in.

"Hey you two lovebirds, so that's how it went here, huh? Me being gone for a couple of days and you two are already letting everyone else do the work?" she asked in a sarcastic voice, knowing exactly how much work Ty and Amy had to manage in the last couple of days.

"Mom!" Amy exclaimed. "Hey Marion," Ty said, still with a smile on his face, "good to have you back in the stable."

"Thank you, Ty. Everything all right around here?"  
"Yeah, everything is fine. Still no signs of any infections –" Ty started talking but Amy interrupted him with stepping on his food. Marion still didn't know about the strangles at Briar Ridge Stables and there was no point in worrying her now.

But Marion already hinted that something was wrong.

"Why would there be any signs of infections?" she asked sharp.  
"Well, you know, routine check ups…" Ty tried to get out of the conversation.

In that moment Luke and Jack entered the stables. Amy and Ty tried to get away from Marion and her craving for answers.  
"Amy, Ty, don't lie to me, come back here! Come on you two what's going on?"  
"Everything all right?" Jack asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," Marion answered, "what's that thing about the infections?"  
Jack gave his granddaughter and Ty his famous look and than began to speak: "We didn't want to worry you without any real reasons. Some horses at Briar Ridge Stables were diagnosed with strangles last week. Since than we checked our horses every day. There are no signs of infections. Thats probably what the kids where talking about."  
"Oh my god," Marion responded, "that's... Thats ... Are you sure that we're clear?"  
"Mom, we checked every day. If any of the horses would be sick, we would know."  
"I… Wow… I don't know what to say. Why didn't you say something? I could have helped. These are my horses."

"We needed you to be O.K. mom. We could handle the rest, there was nothing you could have done anyway," Amy tried to explain.

"I guess its history now anyway. Thank you for your help guys. I'm gonna go see the horses," Marion said, kissed her daughter on the cheek and left.

"That was weird," Amy said.

"What do you mean?" Ty asked.

"Normally Mom would have made a huge deal out of this. Us not telling her something important about the animals…"  
"I guess she can see why we didn't tell her," Jack tried to explain, "and it's not like anything happened."

Later that day Marion entered the kitchen where she saw Luke and Amy.

"You are cooking?!" she said unbelieving.

"It's not like we never do it," Amy answered. "Right, it's not like we never do it, Marion," Luke supported Amy laughing.

"Yeah…" Marion joined them and opened a bottle of wine.

"How was your first day back on your feet?" Amy asked her mother.

"Good, it feels really good. I – "  
"YOU will take it slow, right?" Amy interrupted her.

"Hey, who's the mother here?!" Marion said laughing. But when Amy and Luke looked at her with serious eyes she told them: "I won't do anything the doctor didn't approve. I promise. I'm fine. It's going to be all right. I'm out of the woods; it's time to get our life back on track. Or at least something like that."

"Sounds good to me," Amy answered relieved and even Luke seemed to be calmed down. But he still felt like something wasn't right.

After Amy went to her room, Marion and Luke sat down in front of the fire place.

"Luke?"  
"Marion?"  
"I need to talk to you."  
"About what?"  
"Us… It just… I saw you looking around at adoption homepages – "  
"Marion, " Luke wanted to interrupt her but Marion didn't let him.

"No, please, let me talk. Don't get me wrong, I love you, I love us together, I love our relationship. But ever since I have been at the hospital and they took out the uterus I felt like – I just don't want you to sacrifice your dreams because of me."

"Marion, I'm not. You know I want to be in this relationship – "  
"But you'll never have the chance to have children yourself. Amy and Lou are the best things that have happened in my life. I couldn't imagine it without them. I don't want you to miss that feeling. You want children, I know that, you know that. I don't think that something we can just overlook."  
"Do I even get a say in this?! Yes, I wanted children. Yes, I did look at adoption sides after you had the accident. I guess I just wanted to see what's still out there. We'll figure something out, we always do."

"No. No Luke, this is different. You don't know yet how it feels to have your own children. There is nothing comparable to that feeling. And I can't fulfil that wish. I just… I can't I thought… Maybe… Maybe we should just… Maybe we should take a break. Clear our heads. Think about what we both want."

"Are you serious?! Marion! Where is this coming from? With everything we've been through, everything that has happened – "

"I know… I know. I had a lot of time to think and I – I just think you should get the chance to think about what it means when you say that you're fine with compromising your life in that way."

"I love you, Marion. That's all that matters. Can't we talk about this before throwing everything away?"

"I'm not throwing away anything. I don't want to break up or anything. I just – I want you to be happy," Marion started crying, "and I don't want to get to a point in the future where you are unhappy because you think your life isn't what you wished it to be - because of me."

She didn't plan this conversation but ever since she had all that time on her hands while lying in bed she knew Luke had to have the chance to live his dreams.

"I… I … I … " Luke stuttered.

"If that's what you want. Maybe you're right. I … I'll go," he stood up without another word and left the house.

Marion slowly made her way to the stables where she spent the rest of the night by Pegasus' side - Silently crying.


	8. No hope

"Morning Mom," Amy greeted her mother as she walked in the kitchen.

"Morning Amy, you want breakfast?"

"Nope, thanks though, but I'm in a hurry. Ty wants me to look at some puppies Scott brought into the clinic a few days ago."  
"All right then. But don't even think about bringing one of them home!"  
"Yeah, I know. But Luke is still looking for a dog, right? Maybe he would like to come? Where is he anyway?" Amy asked.

"He… is home I guess."  
"What do you mean you guess he went home? He practically never sleeps at his place…"  
"Yeah, well, we have some stuff to figure out and decided that it would be best if we wouldn't see each other for a while."  
"Oh, when did that happen? I'm sorry for you guys. But you'll figure it out, right?"  
"A couple of days ago but there is nothing for you to worry about. Now go, Ty is waiting for you!"

"Bye, Mom."  
"Have fun."

Marion changed into her riding clothes and decided it was time to get back into training again. When she made her way to the stable Ty crossed her way.

"Hey Ty, aren't you supposed to be at Scott's clinic with Amy right now?"  
"Oh shit, shit! I totally forgot! I – can you let the horses out for me? I promise it wont happen again, I overslept and –"  
"Ty, stop talking – go! I'll take care of the horses, you take care of Amy," Marion interrupted Ty's rambling laughing.  
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Ty said while running to his truck.

When Marion got Pegasus out of his stable she noticed something was wrong. His eyes weren't as attentive as usual; he didn't even bother to look up when Marion entered his box.

"Hey Buddy, what's wrong with you?"

She took his temperature – it was way too high. Marion called Scott and brought Pegasus back into the stable.

"Hey you two," Scott greeted Marion and Pegasus. The old horse looked miserable, so Scott automatically lowered his voice.

"Hey Scott. Thank you for coming so fast. This doesn't look like something I could treat myself. His temperature is really high, breathing seems to be difficult for him and he has a dry cough – do you think it could be the strangles?" Marion asked him.

"He has all the symptoms, coughing, fever. Let me do some tests and we will know for sure."  
Marion let Scott do his work. She was glad that Amy was with Ty.

Scott took is time and after quite a while he told Marion: "It's not the strangles. I think it's his lungs, probably pneumonia."

"Oh shit, he is way too old for a lung infection, Scott! Are you sure?"  
"We have to wait for the test results but I'm pretty sure."  
"Call when you have the results, all right?"  
"Sure thing. Marion, I know it's hard, you had Pegasus for all these years – but you should prepare yourself for the worst. I don't want to be pessimistic but these kinds of infections are tough on horses in his age. You know that right?"  
"Yeah… I know… Let's just wait for the results. Thank you Scott," Marion knew exactly that Pegasus' chances weren't good. He looked worse than before and his cough was too often to be ignored.

"No Problem. I'll call you!"  
"Thanks. Oh, and Scott? Please don't tell Amy. She is at the clinic with Ty right now; I'll tell her later. She had enough to deal with in the last couple of weeks, she needs a little break, even if only for a couple of hours."  
"Sure, don't worry Marion."

Scott left Heartland and Marion kept herself busy with stable work. She stopped by Pegasus' box every few minutes, only to realise that he was definitely not getting better. She couldn't stop thinking about her horse and desperatly waited for her phone to ring. A couple of hours later it finally did – it was Scott.

"I'm sorry Marion, I got no good news for you. Pegasus has a lung infection. The blood count showed way to many white blood cells. We can try to tread it with antibiotics. But – "  
"No buts, Scott. We'll try. You know I am not the one for medical dramas but I can't just give up on him. I'll come by and pick the antibiotics up. Is Amy still at the clinic?"  
"All right. Yeah, she is still here."  
"Good, would you tell her that I am coming and taking her home?" Marion asked. It was time for Amy to know what was going on.

After Marion hang up the phone she called Jack and asked him to watch Pegasus while she was gone.

Everyone was shocked when they heard the news. Pegasus was a part of the family and he seemed to be fine the days before, which is why no one expected the deadly disease.

Amy and Marion spent most of the night by Pegasus' side. There was no sign of improvement. Marion tried to keep his fever down but nothing worked.

"Mom?"

"Yes Amy?"

"Do you think he will get better?" Amy asked her mother.

"I don't know, Amy. I'm not too optimistic. I think he might be too old to beat this. Maybe his time has come to go."  
Both women had tears in their eyes.

Directly after the sun rose Amy called Scott. Pegasus wouldn't stand up anymore.

Before Scott arrived, someone else did - Tim.

"Marion, hey."  
"Tim, what are you doing here?" Marion was kneeing next to Pegasus and couldn't hide that she was surprised by the sight of her Ex-Husband.

"I called him," Amy said. She called Tim after she told Scott to come by. She knew that her father loved that horse as much as everyone else in the family and she thought that he deserved to know when Pegasus was sick.

Marion didn't say another word, she had thought about calling him herself.

Scott arrived and examined the horse.

"I don't want to make you any false hope. His vitals are getting worse. The antibiotics should have kicked in hours ago. You should make a decision."  
Jack had joined them and looked at the women in his family: Marion, Amy and Lou, who got to the stable shortly after Scott. He could see the sadness in each one of them.

"I think it's time for him to go," Marion said soft spoken.

It was a sad day for the Flemings. Scott injected the anesthesia and than put Pegasus to sleep forever. It all happened very fast. Marion had the horses head in her lap an gently stroke up and down his neck. Tears were rolling down her cheeks an continued after Pegasus' heart stopped.

But Marion was not the only one crying. Amy was right beside her mother, her sister right behind her. Tim wiped away the tears, looking a bit ashamed. Even Jack, who never cried, had tears in his eye. They all stayed by Pegasus side for hours. Scott had already left, Jack convinced Amy and Lou to get inside the house. He knew that his daughter needed some time alone with her beloved horse.

"Marion, I'm really sorry," Tim said, who was still in the stable.  
"Yeah, me too. But it was time for him to go. He was a good horse."  
"He was the best. If it weren't for that stupid accident, who knows where we would be today."  
Marion looked at Tim. She had never thought about that.

"It doesn't matter, Tim. Everything went the way it needed to go. He had a good life, not as a show jumper but as a part of our family."  
Tim took Marion's hand. "Did I ever tell you how grateful I am that you took care of everything when I disappeared in that dark whole?" he asked her.

"No. You just left, Tim."  
"Well, let me tell you this: I owe you everything."  
Caught in the moment he took Marion's face in his hands, looked in her sad but still sharp blues eyes and kissed her.


	9. Then comes Goodbye

_**So, this chapter might be a bit sad, I just lost a very much loved animal myself and I guess it kinda influenced this chapter. I hope you like it anyway - next will be less about the horse. **_

For a moment Marion stopped thinking and kissed Tim back. She enjoyed it. It felt so familiar, so good, so comforting. But than, rather suddenly, she gently pushed him back and whispered: "This can't be happening, Tim. It can't. I'm sorry - I thing you should go now..."  
Tim was puzzled for a moment than looked at his old horse on more time, kissed Marion on her right cheek and left without saying a word.

After Tim was gone Marion sat down next to Pegasus one more time, pushing the thoughts about what just happened far away and concentrated on what was really important to her at the moment: her companion, friend and partner that had just died. She caressed him one last time behind his ears, just the way he used to like it and when the sun was sinking she covered Pegasus' lifeless body with sheets. It didn't feel real. Everything that has happened in the last 48 hours felt like a dream to Marion.

Just before she intended to leave the stable, Luke came in.

"Marion, I just heard what had happened. Jack called me. I am so sorry," he greeted her in his low voice. Marion didn't know what to say, they hadn't spoken ever since they decided to take some time apart, Pegasus just died and just a couple of hours ago Tim kissed her – she was quite a bit overwhelmed.

"Thank you, Luke. Thank you for coming by," she finally said.

"Of course. How are you holding up?" he asked her.

"It's hard. But it was for the best," Marion answered with tears in her eyes.  
"He was a great horse. Come here," he said and embraced Marion with his wide muscular arms she loved so much.

Finally Marion let herself go and cried.

It felt good to have Luke by her side, to know that someone was there to hold her.

After a while her sobs were getting calmer.

"You wanna go inside?" Luke asked.  
"Yeah. Everyone is at Dads, I should be there for them, but – "  
"Jack told me to tell you that he will take care of Amy, he said you would probably want some time alone."  
"Ah, he knows me too well," Marion said with a sad smile, "but that doesn't mean that I would mind your company."  
"I am glad to hear it," Luke said and put his arm around her waist while they made their way to Marion's house.

Marion decided to take a shower while Luke lighted a fire in the fireplace, made some food and opened a bottle of whine – just like in old times.

When Marion came down the stairs Luke took her face in his hands and said: "I missed you, Marion."

"I missed you too," she answered gently. He carefully put a lost strand of hair out of her face. Marion enjoyed his touches until the kiss with Tim came into her mind again. She pulled herself out of Luke's embrace.

"What's wrong?" he asked her surprised.

"Nothing really. But I can't do this right now, Luke."  
"What do you want than?"  
"Right now? Right now I want to sit by the fire, drink and cry."  
"I think we can manage that," Luke said with an understanding smile.

* * *

The loss of an animal is nothing someone can understand unless he or she went through the same thing. It hurts. The pain is there. All the time it is there. You feel stupid and unreasonable because it was "just" an animal. Others lost their husbands, wives, children, parents, friends. It makes the loss of an animal feel small and not worth crying about. But it's not small. You cannot hold back your tears all the time. Because your animal, your pet became your friend, it became a part of your life, a constant soul that was there for you no matter what. It listened without judging, made you laugh without trying and made you smile without talking.

When it's gone, a part of your soul is gone as well. It's still in your heart and in your mind but not right there with you anymore.

And that's what hurts. And that's what is worth crying about. An animal loved by a human being, missed by a human being after death.

And than comes goodbye.

* * *

Amy stood in front of Pegasus' old stall and still couldn't believe that he was never going to be in there again.

Days have passed since the day he died, his body was buried deep in the ground in the whole Jack had digged with his tractor.

Ty slowly made his way into the stables when he saw Amy standing in front of the stall.

"You O.K.?" he asked her.

"Yeah. I just still can't believe he is gone," Amy replied.

"Me neither…"  
"It's just – He was there my whole life. I don't know a life without Pegasus. He was always with us. It feels like - I miss him."  
"I know, Amy. But that means he was loved and appreciated. It is ok to miss him, you know that, right?" Ty moved closer to Amy and put an arm around her.

"I know. But that doesn't make it any easier. I don't know how my mom is handling it. They were even closer, I have never seen here like that with another horse."  
"Have you two talked at all?"  
" We've talked about Pegasus every once in a while but it just makes her more upset than she already is."  
"And your dad?"  
"I haven't talked to him since Pegasus died. I tried calling him but he doesn't pick up the phone. He probably has a lot on his mind too. I wish things wouldn't be so complicated. I know they are grieving too but it feels like I'm totally lost and alone in this."  
Ty put his hands on Amy's shoulders and looked deep into her eyes: "I know things aren't easy for you right now. But you know that no matter what comes up, we will get through it. I'm here for you, Amy. You don't have to do this alone. You aren't the only one grieving. You are not alone."  
While he talked tears appeared in Amy's eyes. Ty embraced Amy and she gently whispered "Thank you."


End file.
